WATCH | Demafelis’ alleged ‘recruiter’ surrenders to CIDG

MANILA, Philippines — The woman who allegedly recruited slain overseas Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis has surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp Crame.

In a Radyo Pilipinas report Thursday, CIDG Director Roel Obusan said Agnes Tuballes surrendered to clear her name but is not considered a suspect yet.

Tuballs, who also worked as an overseas domestic helper, denied recruiting Demafiles but admitted having referred her to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Global E-Human Resources, Inc., which deployed the Iloilo naive to Kuwait sometime in 2016.

“Chinat ako ni Joanna. Sabi niya, ‘Tita puwede mo ba akong tulungan gusto ko mag-abroad.’ Ni-recommend ko siya sa Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. That time, doon ka mag-apply kasi doon free passport, no placement fee, no salary deduction (Joanna sent me a message via chat. She said, ‘Tita, can you help me because I want to work abroad.’ I recommended her to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. That time, when you apply there, they will give free passport and they have a ‘no placement fee, no salary deduction’ policy,” Tuballes said.

At the time of Tuballes’ referral, Demafelis was already working as a domestic helper in Hongkong.

Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte directed the National Bureau of Investigation to look for the local recruiters of the slain housemaid following the arrest of her employers, Lebanese national Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife, Mona Hassoun, last week.

The two are the principal suspects in the death of Demafelis whose body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned building in Kuwait City earlier this year.